Court relief for Teesta Setalvad

MUMBAI: A sessions court on Tuesday granted interim relief till February 1 to activist Teesta Setalvad who anticipated arrest in a case involving the fudging of affidavits relating to a victim of the 2002 Gujarat riots, allegedly by her former employee. The arrested accused, Rais Khan, who was a coordinator at the Citizens for Justice and Peace, had mentioned Setalvad in his statement to a magistrate in Gujarat.Khan allegedly filed an affidavit stating that a riot victimwas allegedly gang raped and stabbed by rioters at her late husband's house inNaroda Gam. However, the victim told the Special Investigation Team that she wasnever raped and had no clue about what was written in the affidavit, as it wasinEnglish.gavehis statement to a magistrate in Gujarat and had mentioned the activist's name.Khan had allegedly filed an affidavit stating that a riotvictim was allegedly gang raped and stabbed by rioters at her late husband'shouse in Naroda Gam. However the victim did a volte face and told the SpecialInvestigation Team (SIT) that she was never raped and had no clue about what waswritten in that affidavit since it was in English and she had no knowledge ofthe language. On December 4, 2010, an additional sessions judge in Ahmedabadpassed an order to book Khan and others accused of fabricating the evidence andpreparing false affidavits.According to the Gujarat police,the affidavit was allegedly drafted in English without the victim's knowledge byKhan who was a coordinator of the Citizens for Justice and Peace (CJP),Setalvad's organisation.Outside the court after the hearingSetalvad said that she approached the session's court seeking interim reliefbefore she approached the High Court for anticipatory bail. "The victim in hertestimony before the Nanavati- Shah Commission had deposed the same thing thatwas submitted to the SIT. For what reasons she changed her mind, is unknown,"she said.